


Eat bitter taste sweet

by tothemovies (jarofactonbell)



Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, Modern AU, just our uchiha aniki being grumpy and a trying brother, just some uchiha bros getting along because they didn't get to
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2020-07-10 18:03:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19909927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jarofactonbell/pseuds/tothemovies
Summary: 3 times where Madara said things that are misunderstood + the one time that his words meant everything that they are taken to be understood to be





	Eat bitter taste sweet

**Author's Note:**

> a friend were shocked that i can't write a small fic for any fandom so how about this????
> 
> also i love the uchiha clan and i definitely think that we should have prised more info on the brothers outside of izuna from kishi's cold, cruel fingers but since that didn't go through too well, i've taken artistic liberties and gave them names and personalities
> 
> for naruto founders week 2019! day 2: AUs (modern day)

**[1]**

**“You’re not leaving the house dressed like that.”**

_Aniki_ might as well have declared war on the entirety of the polar bear population and the remaining rhinoceros on active sprinting mission away from poachers, because Izuna and Shizuka stop at the threshold, still. _Too_ still.

“Oh no,” Wakaba sings, in the same way one would say _You could stab me and it would be kinder._ “I’m just going -” he picks up his calculator, not even bothering to finish up his sentence, and flees the War Zone.

 _“Aniki,”_ Izuna trills, a songbird a second away from a screaming row. “What. Did you say. To us?”

Madara doesn't enlighten them with a response, only leisurely strolls to the nearest window and pulls apart the curtains, looking outside with all the serenity he can muster on his perpetually scowling face. 

The absolutely abhorrent weather outside rages on, winds tossing trees and knocking into walls. There is no more rain - only hailstones smashing onto the ground and the path leading outside, and Aniki waits while Izuna scowls fiercely down at him.

"You have a point," the youngest Uchiha brother concedes. "But I don't like that tone of voice."

Shizuka only turns a disbelieving eye to him, the eyepatch managing to convey expressive irony to his _otouto_. Izuna doesn't address him, only starts a whole rant about how he may be younger but he deserves just as much respect as a normal person would too. 

Madara braves the usual rant stoically, same face as always, as his other two brothers putter around the shouting monologue Izuna is engaged in.

When he is done, a large down jacket, reaching at least mid thigh for him, is held out silently by his brother, a visible eyebrow arched. Shizuka had already been wrapped in his own peacoat, calmly inspecting a sturdy umbrella, as the rain strong arms on.

"You can take it off when you get to the theatre, but I don't want to be worried that you are not dressed warm enough to not catch a cold," _Aniki_ finally explains, as Izuna swipes the jacket and angrily storms out, slipping the coat on.

Shizuka huffs out a laugh, which could be _Oh well_ or _What a silly **otouto** , _ and kisses Madara on the cheek goodbye as he too braves the rain under the shuttered opening of his umbrella, _aniki_ watching their backs until the rain obscures all vision.

Wakaba wanders back to the kitchen, whistling loud enough to catch his brother's attention. Madara turns an eye to him, as his brother pushes a pin into his bangs, pushing them away from his face.

"Oh _aniki,_ your words are so aggressive and misleading," his brother chides him, a note of light teasing in his words. Madara does not turn to reprimand the slight bantering tone, technically forbidden in the presence of Father and Great Uncle, marching away to close the curtains, tutting softly at Wakaba to finish up his homework.

  


**[2]**

**“Take that off.”**

Izuna barely has time to fend off _aniki_ away from Hikaku before he inevitably gets decked across the face with the full force of a pro district tennis champion.

 _Aniki_ only calmly sidesteps all attacks dished out his way, visible eye unreadable as he takes long steps to swerve Hikaku’s swipes at his face, only vague concern as he assesses the nonexistent martial arts stance in their pro tennis champion cousin.

“You wanna say that again?” Hikaku roars, lunging to grab - and fail - Madara’s coat lapels.

He slams bodily into Naori’s back, who widens her eyes and whirls around, ready to pour home-squeezed lemonade down her cousin’s shirt. Madara crosses the room in quick strides and picks them apart just in time, before the full brunt of their conflict escalates and once again call for the curtains to be replaced. 

_“You say that again! Say it to my face, you coward!”_ Hikaku whisper-roars at Madara, calmly and loosely held back by Izuna and Shizuka, who could care less that it’s their brother their cousin is screaming at, but by virtue and collective recollection of the last time these two went head to head against each other. Hikaku could not shut up for the _month._ Nobody particularly wants to revisit that specific epoch of nightmare.

Naori rouses out of her brief bout of regular rage at anyone bumping into her personal bubble, and frowns down at her screaming cousin. 

“What’s he screaming about now?”

“My skirt!” Hikaku wails, thrashing about in the Uchiha brothers’ hold. “He told me to _take it off!”_

Madara, sighing, long-suffering, developing eye bags and wrinkles at the tender age of 25, striding over swiftly and bunching his fingers around the relatively long rip following along the line of Hikaku’s spine into his coccyx, unnoticed by the wearer, but noticed by people whose eyes stray to the needlework of the unconventional piece of clothing.

“Ah,” Shizuka eyes flit to the resizing stitches. 

Izuna too sees the problem. His hand immediately finds his face. “You sewed it on weird. Now it’s ripped. Dumbass. Stupid. Idiot. Moron. Clown. A literal clown.”

Hikaku fumes, but less with the murder factor. _“Shut the_ **_fuck_ ** _up, Izuna.”_

Madara unhands him, but not before Hikaku whirls onto him.

“Madara-nii-san!” He screeches, like a badly designed and written female protagonist about to challenge him to a duel. “Use nicer words next time! Or just touch me first!”

Madara’s eyebrows climb visibly as his cousin considers his words to which he lets out a horrifying scream in realisation of what he just implied. 

“What a complete disaster,” Izuna snorts, as he sips on the drink he squandered from Madara’s hands. “Absolute clown. Would die for him.”

“You’re going to spill that on yourself,” Madara moves the cup to where it won’t spill onto his brother’s shirt and sighs as Izuna nearly sloshes the entire drink onto a passing cousin instead. “You’re the clown.”

 _“Aniki! That’s_ **_mean!”_ **

  


**[3]**

**“Put that down.”**

This tone is dangerous. This tone is authoritative.

Wakaba’s shivering form that devolves into deranged laughter could be a mockery of his brother’s threat, but really, he knows better to doubt the underlying truth in the command.

_Aniki is afraid._

The Senju goons who have been sent by Butsuma grin menacingly, a razor to his throat. Izuna and Shizuka are somewhere safe, thank _heavens,_ but he had been walking stupidly by himself and is cornered by the goons. He thought that he’s done for, and he’ll come back home in ribbons of thinly sliced meat, but _aniki_ knew and came to his rescue, but he’s shaking with fear for his baby brother with barely held in restraint as Wakaba brandishes a switchblade, eyes hard at the Senjus holding him down.

“Wakaba,” _aniki_ murmurs. “Put it down.”

_“Aniki -”_

“Down. I will not repeat myself.”

The Senjus are momentarily confused. He knows this will put a strain on his brother’s usual correspondence with that nice coconut bowl haircut Senju boy that he’s badly hiding about, but they can both understand. They’re kids. They can’t do anything about -

There is no more trace of Senju thugs and his eldest brother is pulling him close to his chest, exhaling out a breath of shuddering relief.

“I thought they hurt you badly,” _aniki_ breathes out shakily, but relief thrums loudly in his blood. 

“Sorry I made you worry, _aniki,”_ he tries, and hugs his brother back. He’s growing taller, while _aniki_ is still the same. Doesn’t mean he’s not getting any scarier though. “This won’t dampen the mood with your date with that Senju boy, won’t it?”

The outraged gasp Madara let out was enough for Wakaba to revisit for a little bout of hysterical giggle for an entire week after it had happened.

  


**[+1]**

**“That’s fine, Izuna. Try again.”**

Izuna, emboldened by the unwavering faith that Madara instilled into him, tries again.

His arrow makes the perfect mark. Tajima barely lets out a sneer before Wakaba and Shizuka assume their marks, nod once at Madara, and fire off consecutive rounds of arrows, pinning right into the bullseyes.

Tajima leaves, not a word of wisdom bestowed upon their heads. At his back, the brothers grin at one another, Madara at the centre of his brothers’ adoration.

“Keep practicing. You’ll get better that way,” he tells them, as he himself picks up a bow.

 _“Aniki,”_ Shizuka grins as he smothers Madara in a towel. “Sometimes you do say the sweetest things.” 

**Author's Note:**

> no i am not a fan of xxxholic i've absolutely no idea what you are accusing me of,,,,
> 
> find me on [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/hozukitofu) and [cc](https://curiouscat.me/jenny_benny)! i have a writing [twitter](https://twitter.com/jayjem_jam) if anyone is interested in more bs or we can just vibe in the void together


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